By Maya McGregor
Staff Writer
The crowd went wild as Mira Costa students sang, danced, and played their hearts out as they competed to win Costa’s annual talent show.
Students gathered in the auditorium to participate in and watch the Mira Costa annual talent show on
Jan. 30. The overall best group of the evening was the “Chinatown String Octet: Evolution of Music”, featuring Carina Chong (12), Danica Chong (11), Erick Chong (12), Leonard Chong (11), Chris Fong (12), Kirk La (12), Alex Luo (9) and Koh Shoda (12). Best duet was awarded to junior, Anand Landon and senior, Tony Nguyen for their performance of “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”, by John Mayer. The best solo performance was awarded to sophomore, Michael LoCascio, who sang the popular Beatles song, “Hey Jude”.
“The talent show was a great experience for fellow Costa students to showcase their skill,” freshman ASB president, Duke Mahr said. “I really enjoyed all the different performances, it was such a great event.”
The Chinatown String Octet played a four-minute compilation of the songs “The Entertainer”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Billy Jean”, “Toxic”, “Titanium”, and “Wrecking Ball”. Their concert was inspired by the popular YouTube video, “Evolution of Dance”, and was meant to take the audience through years of top chart hits. La put together the ensemble for the group and orchestra teacher, Peter Park helped adapt the popular songs into music playable by a string octet.
“We put a lot of work into our performance, practices were sometimes stressful, but in the end it all paid off,” Carina Chong said. “After we performed, I felt very excited and accomplished, but also a little sad because it was over.”
Duet Anand Landon and Tony Nguyen both played the guitar along with singing to “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”. Together, they harmonized with their instruments and were awarded best duet of the evening.
“Tony and I were very familiar with the song we chose,” Landon said. “I felt really good on stage and playing for my peers was very exciting, they had lots of good energy.”
Both members in the duet participated in middle school bands, which led them to find their passion for music today.
“I was very surprised when I heard we won,” Landon said. “There are so many talented people at Costa and I was thrilled to learn that Tony and I were chosen as best duet.”
Michael LoCascio was awarded the best solo performance of the night, singing the classic Beatles song, “Hey Jude”. LoCascio had never performed in front of an audience until winter break, and as a result of his amazing experience at the talent show, he plans to continue performing in front of crowds.
“During the performance I saw people waving their phones in the back, clapping and singing along,” LoCascio said. “Afterwards, I was very satisfied and stunned at how well it had gone.”
LoCascio had little background in singing and playing the guitar, but was encouraged by his peers to perform. He plans to attend and play in a fundraiser in the library that will take place in the weeks following spring break.
“I had never expected to win compared to all of the other fantastic people that performed,” LoCascio said. “The crowd was so amazing and the overall event was just a great experience.”
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